Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Last Bit About Cannes

As the 2011 Cannes Film Festival winds down, what's always left is what will become of the movies that played, both to rousing response and less so. The big winner, The Tree of Life, will be released in limited release this coming week (with a wide release planned July 8th, which is a long time-- jump on it-- Malick fans wait long enough for gods sake), courtesy of the brave and rescuing warriors at Fox Searchlight Pictures. Of course, they have a big awards victory as a major coup, alongside a major filmmaker and bona-fide movie stars in Brad Pitt and Sean Penn as collateral, but it's still a gamble; a cerebral art house mindfuck at the beginning of the summer movie season... and let's all set aside in thinking this film is going to coast itself all the way to the Oscars.

But there's other films out there too. Winner of the Grand Prize at the Cannes Critics Week was the American film Take Shelter, starring Michael Shannon and the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain, which is being described as the good version of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Sony Pictures Classics is set to release the film some time this fall. Trailer below:

Another hot button film that was in competition was We Need to Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton and directed by Lynne Ramsay. The film was critically beloved, but unfortunately walked away empty-handed come prize time, which might have put the film at a disadvantage considering its sour subject matter (a high school shooting), however brave distributor Oscilloscope (the same company that saved small gems like Meek's Cutoff, Wendy & Lucy and The Messenger) has come to the rescue. Perhaps, if seen, it will undue some the past Academy damages done in recent years and honor Swinton with an Oscar nomination.

Meanwhile, Drive, winner of the Best Director prize, and starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan will be unveiled this September from distributor FilmDistrict, an up and coming company fresh from a wonderful spring thanks to the surprise success stories of Soul Surfer and Insidious.

Finally, a finely tuned reaction to her Best Actress win from Kirsten Dunst.